Injection Capable Blasting Equipment

ABSTRACT

Blasting apparatus are disclosed relating to abrasive blasting that include a blasting pot and a blast pot discharge assembly connected to the blasting pot below the blasting pot. The blast pot discharge assembly may contain an elbow section and an eccentric reducer section and may also have an injector in the elbow section that injects liquid into the elbow section toward the eccentric reducer section.

Blasting equipment described herein may be used in sand blasting and avariety of other abrasive blasting applications.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a blasting pot lower assembly.

FIG. 2 shows another configuration of a blasting pot lower assembly.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Example 1

Referring to FIG. 1 of the Drawings, a Blasting pot system 40 maycontain a Blasting pot vessel 60 (Not Shown), and a Blasting pot lowerassembly 100. The Blasting pot lower assembly 100 may include a Blastpot discharge assembly 110 and an Injection system 200. Blast potdischarge assembly 110 may include Pot flange 113, Elbow section 120,Pot eccentric reducer section 123 and Reducing section exit 125.Injection system 200 may comprise Elbow weld attachment 203, Injector210, Injector opening 213, Check valve 230, Ball valve 233, Water supply240 and Water pump 243 (not shown).

Blasting pot vessel 60 may be situated on top of and bolted to Potflange 113. Elbow section 120 may form a 90° turn such that materialenters Elbow section 120 descending vertically and exits Elbow section120 moving horizontally. Pot eccentric reducer section 123 may reducethe internal diameter of Blast pot discharge assembly 110 such that theinternal diameter of Blast pot discharge assembly 110 at Reducingsection exit 125 is at most one half of the internal diameter of Potflange 113.

Elbow weld attachment 203 may be welded to Elbow section 120 withInjector 210 fixed to the interior of Elbow weld attachment 203 suchthat Injector opening 213 is oriented downward and away from Elbow weldattachment 203. Elbow weld attachment 203 and Injector 210 may beoriented horizontally. Injector opening 213 may further be cut at a 45°angle with the opening in Injector opening 213 being downward and awayfrom the connection between Blasting pot vessel 60 and Pot flange 113.Water supplied from Water pump 243 may flow successively through Watersupply 240, Ball valve 233, and Check valve 230 on its way to Injector210 where it is released under pressure in the direction of Reducingsection exit 125. That release of water may have multiple beneficialimpacts including washing Blast pot discharge assembly 110, aiding theflow of material through Blast pot discharge assembly 110 and eitherunplugging Blast pot discharge assembly 110 or maintaining Blast potdischarge assembly 110 in a free flowing state. The orientation ofInjector opening 213 makes Injector opening 213 less likely to plug whenInjector opening 213 is not in use.

Injector 210 may be constructed from a 5-inch-long pipe with a 45° Mitrecut at the injection end of the pipe. Elbow weld attachment 203 may beconstructed from a 6 inch by three-quarter inch pipe. Check valve 230may be a three-quarter inch check valve and Ball valve 233 may be athree-quarter inch ball valve. Pot eccentric reducer section 123 may bea six inch by two-inch eccentric reducer. Pot flange 113 may be a 6-inchstandard raised face weld neck flange. Elbow section 120 may be a 6 inchstandard 90-degree short radius elbow having standard wall dimensions.Pot flange 113 may be welded to Elbow section 120 and Pot flange 113 maybe bolted to Blasting pot vessel 60.

Pot eccentric reducer section 123 may have an internal diameter ratiorepresented by the eccentric reducer section inlet inner diameterdivided by the reducing section exit inner diameter. The eccentricreducer internal diameter ratio may, for example, be 3.0 with certainexamples falling between 1.2 and 10.0 and a significant number of thoseexamples falling between 2.1 and 6.5. The injector internal diametermay, for example, be less than 0.80 of the reducing section exit innerdiameter. The injector internal diameter may, for example, be less than0.50 of the reducing section exit inner diameter. The injector internaldiameter may, for example, be less than 0.30 of the eccentric reducersection inlet inner diameter. The injector internal diameter may, forexample, be less than 0.15 of the eccentric reducer section inlet innerdiameter.

Pot eccentric reducer section 123 may be a non-symmetrical section. Inparticular, Pot eccentric reducer section 123 may be configured suchthat it does not retain any liquids in Blast pot discharge assembly 110when Blast pot discharge assembly 110 is configured in the orientationdepicted in FIG. 1 and not connected to any additional piping.Non-symmetrical as used in the context of the eccentric reducer sectionrefers to symmetry about a single axis and does not refer to symmetryabout a plane. Stated differently, the reduction of diameter in Poteccentric reducer section 123 may come entirely from the upper portionof Pot eccentric reducer section 123 such that the upper portion of Poteccentric reducer section 123 curves downward and the lower innersurface of Pot eccentric reducer section 123 forms roughly a straightline from Elbow section 120 to Reducing section exit 125.

Example 2

Referring to FIG. 2 of the Drawings, a Blasting pot system 40 maycontain a Blasting pot vessel 60 (Not Shown), and a Blasting pot lowerassembly 100. The Blasting pot lower assembly 100 may include a Blastpot discharge assembly 110 and an Injection system 200. Blast potdischarge assembly 110 may include Pot flange 113, Elbow section 120,Pot elbow reducing section 123 and Elbow exit 125. Injection system 200may comprise Elbow weld attachment 203, Injector 210, Injector opening213, Check valve 230, Ball valve 233, Water supply 240, Water pump 243(not shown), Water supply tee 310, Intermediate water supply line 313,Water supply three way valve 320, Water fill line 325, Air and injectionsupply tee 330, Injection supply line 333 and Air supply line 335.

In addition to having features described in Example 1 above, theBlasting pot system 40 may contain the additional features described inthe present example. Blasting pot system 40 may include a water supplysystem that supplies water from the Water supply 240 through Watersupply three way valve 320 to either Water supply tee 310 by way ofIntermediate water supply line 313 or to Water fill line 325. Water fillline 325 may be directly connected to Blasting pot vessel 60 and may beused to directly fill Blasting pot vessel 60. Also, Air and injectionsupply tee 330 may be the point at which air and additives are injectedby way of Air supply line 335 and Injection supply line 333respectively. Air supply line 335 may be configured with a compressor,fittings, valves, pressure regulators and other equipment as may beneeded to control the supply of air to Air supply line 335. Similarly,Injection supply line 333 may be configured with a tank, pump, fittings,valves, regulators and other equipment as may be needed to control thesupply of additives to Injection supply line 333.

Injector 210 may horizontally align with Reducing section exit 125.Further, Injector 210 may be positioned in the lower half of Elbowsection 120 as measured at the point where Elbow section 120 meets Poteccentric reducer section 123. Reducing section exit 125 may behorizontally separated by greater than a full outer pipe diameter ofElbow section 120 as measured at the uppermost part of Elbow section 120from the inlet of Blast pot discharge assembly 110.

Further Examples

During the operation of Blasting pot system 40 the Injector 210 andassociated equipment may be configured to inject bleach, soap, microbesor other additives. Such additives may enhance the effect of blastingwith the Blasting pot system 40. Once a deadman or blasting handle isengaged for the operation of the Blasting pot system 40 any injectionmaterial supplied through Injector opening 213 would be engaged suchthat the additive flows into Blast pot discharge assembly 110 and isincorporated into the blasting material delivered through Reducingsection exit 125 to the blasting hose.

The shape and orientation of Injector 210 allows the product to besmoothly incorporated into the blasting media descending from Blastingpot vessel 60. Further, the use of Injection system 200 allows for rapidinitiation of the blasting due to the ability of Injector 210 to helpwith the movement of the blast media. Injector 210 may furthersignificantly reduce downtime associated with clogging of blasting mediain various locations in the Blasting pot lower assembly 100 due to theability of fluids flowing from Injector 210 to agitate the contents ofBlasting pot lower assembly 100. Injector 210 may further act as acleanout port for maintenance and cleaning of Blasting pot system 40either during operation of Blasting pot system 40 or after blasting iscomplete.

The availability of water at Injector 210 throughout the operation ofBlasting pot system 40 allows for either the dry filling of Blasting potvessel 60 in advance of any water addition or allows for the directaddition of dry blasting media to Blasting pot vessel 60 after water isadded to the bottom of Blasting pot lower assembly 100. Because Waterfill line 325 and Elbow weld attachment 203 are piped to and directlyconnected to Blasting pot vessel 60 and Blast pot discharge assembly 110respectively, there is significantly decreased opportunity for spillingof blasting media during preparation for blasting and during afterblasting cleanup. Further, Injector 210 may either eliminate or greatlyreduce the need for cleaning of Blasting pot system 40 after thecompletion of blasting and may more particularly eliminate the need toopen the hand-hole washout port (not shown) of Blasting pot vessel 60.The tip of Injector opening 213 may be located outside of the spaceimmediately below the internal area of the Blast pot discharge assembly110 at the uppermost point of Blast pot discharge assembly 110.

In certain embodiments when blasting media plugs some or all of the flowpath of Blast pot discharge assembly 110 air may be supplied from Airsupply line 335 and forced through Injector opening 213 to break freethe blasting media that is blocking the path.

The blasting apparatus described herein may, for example, comprise ablasting pot; a blast pot discharge assembly situated below the blastingpot and connected to the blasting pot such that the blast pot dischargeassembly contains an elbow section and a pot eccentric reducer section,and an injector situated at least partially within the elbow sectionsuch that the injector is arranged and configured to inject a liquidinto the elbow section, the pot eccentric reducer section has a reducingsection exit having a reducing section exit inner diameter, wherein thepot eccentric reducer section is non-symmetrical, the injector ispositioned and oriented to align with the reducing section exit, theinjector has a nozzle tip and the nozzle tip is at least one reducingsection exit inner diameter away from the reducing section exit and thenozzle tip is located below a midpoint of an eccentric reducer sectioninlet of the pot eccentric reducer section. In a related example, theinjector may be configured to deliver fluid from an additive tank. In arelated example, an eccentric reducer section inlet inner diameter ofthe pot eccentric reducer section may be between 1.2 and 10.0 times thereducing section exit inner diameter. In a related example, an injectorinternal diameter of the injector may be less than 0.80 of the reducingsection exit inner diameter. In a related example, an injector internaldiameter of the injector may be less than 0.30 of an eccentric reducersection inlet inner diameter of the pot eccentric reducer section. In arelated example, an elbow section inlet flow direction may beperpendicular to an injector flow direction. In a further relatedexample, an injector flow direction may align with a center of thereducing section exit.

The blasting apparatus described herein may, for example, comprise ablasting pot; a blast pot discharge assembly situated below the blastingpot and connected to the blasting pot such that the blast pot dischargeassembly includes an elbow section and a pot eccentric reducer section;and an injector situated at least partially within the elbow section,such that the injector is arranged and configured to inject a liquidinto the elbow section; the injector is configured to deliver fluid froman additive tank; the pot eccentric reducer section has a reducingsection exit; the pot eccentric reducer section is non-symmetrical; anentrance internal diameter of the blast pot discharge assembly is atleast twice an exit internal diameter of the reducing section exit; andthe injector is positioned and oriented to align with the reducingsection exit. In a related example, the blast pot discharge assembly mayalso include a raised face weld neck flange.

The above-described embodiments have a number of independently usefulindividual features that have particular utility when used incombination with one another including combinations of features fromembodiments described separately. There are, of course, other alternateembodiments which are obvious from the foregoing descriptions, which areintended to be included within the scope of the present application.

1. A blasting apparatus comprising: a. a blasting pot; b. a blast potdischarge assembly situated below the blasting pot and connected to theblasting pot, wherein the blast pot discharge assembly comprises: i. anelbow section and ii. a pot eccentric reducer section; and c. aninjector situated at least partially within the elbow section, d.wherein the injector is arranged and configured to inject a liquid intothe elbow section; e. wherein the pot eccentric reducer section has areducing section exit having a reducing section exit inner diameter; f.wherein the pot eccentric reducer section is non-symmetrical; g. whereinthe injector is positioned and oriented to align with the reducingsection exit; h. wherein the injector has a nozzle tip and the nozzletip is at least one reducing section exit inner diameter away from thereducing section exit; i. wherein the nozzle tip is located below amidpoint of an eccentric reducer section inlet of the pot eccentricreducer section.
 2. The blasting apparatus of claim 1 wherein theinjector is configured to deliver fluid from an additive tank.
 3. Theblasting apparatus of claim 1 wherein an eccentric reducer section inletinner diameter of the pot eccentric reducer section is between 1.2 and10.0 times the reducing section exit inner diameter.
 4. The blastingapparatus of claim 1 wherein an injector internal diameter of theinjector is less than 0.80 of the reducing section exit inner diameter.5. The blasting apparatus of claim 1 wherein an injector internaldiameter of the injector is less than 0.30 of an eccentric reducersection inlet inner diameter of the pot eccentric reducer section. 6.The blasting apparatus of claim 1 wherein an elbow section inlet flowdirection is perpendicular to an injector flow direction.
 7. Theblasting apparatus of claim 1 wherein an injector flow direction alignswith a center of the reducing section exit.
 8. A blasting apparatuscomprising: a. a blasting pot; b. a blast pot discharge assemblysituated below the blasting pot and connected to the blasting pot,wherein the blast pot discharge assembly comprises: i. an elbow sectionand ii. a pot eccentric reducer section; and c. an injector situated atleast partially within the elbow section, d. wherein the injector isarranged and configured to inject a liquid into the elbow section; e.wherein the injector is configured to deliver fluid from an additivetank; f. wherein the pot eccentric reducer section has a reducingsection exit; g. wherein the pot eccentric reducer section isnon-symmetrical; h. wherein an entrance internal diameter of the blastpot discharge assembly is at least twice an exit internal diameter ofthe reducing section exit; and i. wherein the injector is positioned andoriented to align with the reducing section exit.
 9. The blastingapparatus of claim 1 wherein the blast pot discharge assembly furthercomprises a raised face weld neck flange.